Black Rhinos coach Stanford Mutizwa is confident of springing a surprise on in-form Caps United when the two teams clash at the National Sports Stadium this afternoon.
Caps have mesmerised in their opening three matches, winning two and sharing points in one, but Mutizwa believes his army side has nothing to fear.
His confidence is not without foundation as his newly-assembled and young squad has surpassed expectations so far, picking four points from their opening three matches.
“We are well prepared for the match, and we are preparing for it like we have done for any other team,” Mutizwa told NewsDay Sport yesterday.
Rhinos started the campaign with a win over their army counterparts Cranborne Bullets, and were controversially beaten by Highlanders in their second match before earning a point against Bulawayo Chiefs last week.
“We have started the season decently and we have told ourselves we can’t lose our fourth match of the season,” the legendary coach said.
Mutizwa is wary that his young lads, most of whom are playing premiership football for the first time could suffer from stage fright when they face giants Caps United.
Rhinos were forced to reassemble their squad after a number of players deserted camp at the end of last season.
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“We have a fairly young squad with a lot of players playing in the league for the first time, so our job has been to psyche up the players. I’m happy that they are responding well. We are facing Caps United who are a very big brand, one of the big three teams, in the country so the players will have to be mentally strong. We hope they will,” Mutizwa said.
He admitted Caps United have had a memorable start to the new campaign.
The Lloyd Chitembwe-coached side blew away Manica Diamonds in their opener, and settled for a goalless draw with Ngezi Platinum, but recovered with a win over ZPC Kariba last week to move second on the log standings with seven points, the same tally as log leaders Dynamos.
With their town rivals Dynamos only getting into action on Monday, Caps United could end the weekend on top of the log if they can get the job done this afternoon.
“Caps United have started well, which is good for any coach and their players have confidence. It’s not going to be an easy match, but we are targeting nothing short of three points. They have seven points, we also want to have those seven points after the next match,” Mutizwa said confidently.
But Rhinos will go into the match hugely handicapped, without three of their influential players.
Captain Brighton Christopher, his vice Gift Saunyama and Kuda Nyakudanga have all been ruled out of the clash with injuries.
But they do possess a number of dangerous and familiar players for their opponents with veteran midfielder Allan Gahadzikwa set to play an important role for his team this afternoon.
Rhinos also boast of the experience of Douglas Mbewe and Tatenda Mchisa, who have been in the game for a long time.
“It’s a big blow because those two (Brighton and Saunyama) have been combining so well in midfield. And missing them is going to be big for us. But we have have some good replacements, so we are not really worried,” Mutizwa added.
This fixture produced a 1-1 draw last season, before the two sides played a goalless draw in the reverse fixture.
